Alloy wire



Patented Jan. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES PA'TENT; OFFICE BRASS COMPANY, OFWATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTI- (I-UT- ALLOYNoDrawingi Application filed June 18,

This invention relates to a metal alloy and conductor wire manufacturedtherefrom, and has for an object to produce an alloy wire which willhave the required strength, ductility and the electrical conductivityfor use 'for twisted pair drop 'wire or lead-in wire such as is used fortelephone installations, although it is not necessarily limited to thisuse. A copper clad steel wire has been used for this purpose as it hasaconductivity which was quitesatisfactory and the required strength, butit has a serious objection in that it lacked uniformity, andconsiderable ex-. perimentation has been carried on to discover an alloywhich could be easily drawn to the required size and which would havethe required strength, .resistance to shock and electrical conductivity.

After considerable experimentation I' have developed an alloy which canbe drawn to the proper size'and will have the required strength,conductiyity, and resistance to shockto meet the standards set. This isan alloy of cadmium, zinc and copper, the proportions of cadmium rangingfrom about to about 1 zinc from'about 2 to about 7% and the balancecopper. In manufacturing this alloy and wire the commercial practice ofcasting the material into an approximately 200 pound bar, and approxi-'mately' four inch square cross section was used. The bar after gatingwas heated in a mufiie and 'hot rolled to approximately inch diameterand then drawn through dies on the standard type of continuous wiredrawing machine to .045 inch diameter.

- This wire is very satisfactory .for the 'purpose intended as it has aconductivity of approximately based on the interna-O tionalannealedcopper standard at 20? 0.,

and it has the required tensile strength, meet- WIRE 1921s. Serial No.286,489.

have a higher conductivity and lower strength than the materialwhichcontains a' relatively large amount of cadmium and a larger amountofzinc. wire which is especially adapted for use in the manufacture ofdrop wires or leading-in wires which are strung by the utility companies(telephone or telegraph) between their cables and the subscribersbuilding. This wire is fairly strong, approximately 120,000 pounds persquare inch tensile strength, and is not easily'broken down by a fallinglimb or a sudden loading of the wire in an ice or sleet storm, or by thestrains set up in the wire due to high winds.

The wire after being drawn to size may be wound on a reel and thenpassed through a flux and through molten tin, wipes and water to give asatisfactory tinned surface. Tin.

on the wire is required in order to protect the material from the rubberand insulating materials which are applied to the wireby 2. .Adrawnmetal wire comprising from about one half to about one and one half percent cadmium, from about two to about seven per cent zinc, and thebalance copper.

3. A metal conductor wire comprising an alloy of cadmium, zinc andcopper, having from about one half to about one and one half percentcadmium, from about two to This alloy gives a about seven percent zinc,and the balance copper, and having an electrical conductivlty ofapproximately 55 per cent or greater based on the international annealedcopper ing the breaking strength requirement of fi fi a1520b nd capableof being 17 0 pounds for the .045 inch diameter of hard drawn wire. Theconductivity of the wire and the exact strength obtained following-adefinite amount of cold working depends, of. course, upon the amount ofcadmium and zinc which is introduced into the alloy. The materialcontainin the smaller amounts of drawn to have a. tensile strength ofatleast about 120,000 pounds per square inch.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. WILLIAM H. BASSETT.

50 cadmium and sma er amounts of zinc will"

